Coughlin goes camping part 1

GI Staff

06/23/2004

New Giants coach Tom Coughlin rarely makes himself available for one-on-one interviews. Actually TGI is still waiting for its sit-down, which was promised not long after Coughlin took the reins in January. As a result, on occasion we have to share information with www.giants.com. Here follows excerpts from an interview Coughlin did for the team's website following the conclusion of the team's offseason program.

Q: Do you feel good about the offseason, both in terms of what you learned about the team and what the players have done in terms of conditioning, commitment and learning the new offense and defense?

A: We changed the structure of our offseason program. We literally took all of the machines out downstairs and we reconstructed a brand new facility. We also purchased the setup for extended free weight exercises, which we believe is the greatest source of explosion. It's arguable, but that is what we believe in.

As to the offseason program and how our football players responded to that and what they were able to accomplish – we averaged 60 players per day in training. Thirty-six players had 100 percent attendance in the offseason program. Twenty-four players had 93-99 percent attendance in the offseason program. So that is 60 players who trained at least 93 percent of the number of training dates. The feedback we got from day one was that they were excited about the program, they liked the fact that we were working with them, not only in the weight room, but on the field in terms of their running. So they responded very well to that.

We were successful in that we were able to give our players an excellent example of how we would function in training camp, of our situational offense, defense and special teams, of the way that they would be taught, the way they would be asked to practice and respond. We had the ability to throw a lot at the players. We used the overload principal, and we were able to evaluate how they reacted in that teaching modem as to their ability to retain – practice after practice, day after day – a lot of new information.

So from that standpoint, we felt good that we were able to convey a lot of information to them that we then can return to in training camp. I think we will reap the rewards of that, as well.

I think the basis of our information has been shared with the players and I think we can now, after going through a process of bringing them back to realizing what we are all about at the beginning of training camp, make good progress.

Q: After looking at the many newcomers you brought in are you confident they will make this a better team?

A: They are going to help the team, definitely. There is no question about that. What it will amount to is the quality of our performance and our play and the way in which our players respond in terms of depth. You need depth to win in the National Football League, and that is the thing we have to find out about in training camp.
We have many lessons to learn in training camp.

We were not able, obviously, to do anything in terms of gauging physical toughness. That comes when the pads come on. Getting into training with the repetition of practices, hopefully, the ability to train in practice in conditions of heat, to stay focused, to test our concentration level. All of those things are necessary. I have been impressed by the attitude the majority of our players have taken about practice and about new learning and looking forward to having more information available to them. I have been impressed with that. But training camp will give us the opportunity to go further with our evaluation.